US Secretary of State Blinken takes issue with what he says is the international community’s sole focus on making demands of Israel regarding the war in Gaza while remaining silent on Hamas’s own agency in the conflict.
“What is striking to me is that even as we hear many countries urging an end to this conflict… I hear virtually no one demanding of Hamas that it stop hiding behind civilians, that it lay down its arms, that it surrender. This would be over tomorrow if Hamas does that,” Blinken says.
“How can it be that there are no demands made of the aggressor, and only demands made of the victim. It would be good if there was a strong international voice pressing Hamas to do what is necessary to end this,” he adds.
The secretary insists that “any other country in the world faced with what what suffered on October 7 would do the same thing.”
View this Times of Israel Report